ECN Forum Forums Photo Discussion Forums Electrical Nostalgia Missing Link? NEMA 5.5-15R spotted

Believe it or not I actually saw 2 of these in an old building that I used to work in. If anyone is familiar with the VF Outlet Village in Reading, PA this is where they were. The VF Outlet Village is located in 2 very large buildings that were previously knitting mill buildings from the early 1900's that have since been added on to, and converted to factory outlets. The largest of the buildings is the two buildings called the "Red Building" and "Blue Building." One of the receptacles was located on second level of the Red Building (within the actual store) and the other was located in the 4th floor of the Red Building (in the warehouse level) by one of the elevators. As a collector of old receptacles, I have longed for these and it has been so long since I've seen them that I started to think maybe I was seeing things until now. The 2 at VF were Bryant duplex receptacles just like the one shown except they were not in the round cover. The one on level 2 was mounted on a support pole and had thick layers of paint on it and was eventually covered with a safety cover. The one on level 4 was mounted to a wall and had only one thin layer of paint on it.

Now you all got me keeping my eyes out for one of these.

Cool, more sightings!

Hey, something else I just found while researching this thread.

1951 NEC, Sec. 2111(1):

1953 NEC, Sec. 2123(b):
(italics mine)

I guess that's the origin of the divide between parallel and tandem right there. Only for grounding receptacles. The 1951 language leaves plenty of wiggle room (e.g. you could always use a crowfoot or a twist-lock for 240V), but the 1953 NEC effectively eliminated the 5.5-15R. (Though not the non-grounding T-slot!)